11th Hour Holiday Gifts That Give Back

Right now, you can help restore an endangered rainforest while getting great perks for your contributions. The iGiveTrees crowd funding campaign on Indiegogo runs through December 30, and has already exceeded its initial $10,000 funding goal. Now the intention is to see how much more positive impact it can create before the end of the year.

$5 plants an organically grown native tree in Brazil’s endangered Atlantic Forest.
$10 insures it’s maintained in the field without toxic chemicals, for two years.

Started by a Brazilian-American artist and writer, Alana Lea, iGiveTrees has grown into a worldwide statement of hope for the future. She has been dubbed the “Real Life Lorax” by many, and now encourages others to share the title with her.

Five years into this grassroots, organic reforestation project, a global community has formed to support native tree growers, small local NGOs and subsistence farm families to restore this most bio-diverse rainforest. It’s already 93% gone.

Tax-deductible DONATIONS keep us going – click on an image below to help us grow!

AFFORESTATION TRAINING

Help sponsor the first Brazilian training of a new generation of environmental entrepreneurs in the Miyawaki method of Afforestation, as recommended by Project Drawdown. We’re bringing Shubhendu Sharma from India to teach the method of his mentor, Dr. Akira Miyawaki. This is a replicatable, organic system of intensive soil preparation, planting of successional native species trees in urban areas, that has been tested globally for more than 40 years. And, we’ll offer scholarships to women who want to learn this as a trade.

NATIVE SPECIES TREES – $25

Help sponsor the gift of trees for an urban food forest. We’ll be planting 300 native species trees in each plot, with an emphasis on tropical staple tree crops. These will include Coconut, Jackfruit, Moringa, Avocado, Mango, Papaya, Pitanga, Aurocaria, Fruita de Conde, Jaibuticaba, Banana, Passionflower, Pineapple and many others! This includes the cost of organic soil amendments, digging equipment, mulch and 2 years of maintenance after plantings. Since there's such a diversity of trees being planted, individual costs vary, so this is a fund toward the whole forest plot, not the cost for one tree.

NATIVE TREE SEEDS – $50

Help sponsor the gift of native species tree seeds from this endangered rainforest. We support back country sustainable seed harvesters who supply their local seed banks and nurseries. These are large bags of seeds, not small packets. The size of the bag depends upon the type of seed, but each one holds approximately 1,000 seeds. This is the way we protect biodiversity.